A New Sky
by whovianmaniac
Summary: Emma Mason is surprised to find a man and a blue police box standing not far from her yard late one night in Los Angeles. When she talks to him, they end up running from a strange creature and the man tells her, after much prodding, what he really is and comes with him to find out what the aliens are really up to. (sorry for the sucky summary!)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

**This is my first time submitting a story, so any feedback is welcome! It's completely clean, and I try to write it like it's a novel, so it has some sort of structure to it. I hope you enjoy this fan fiction! :)**

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THERE ISN'T MUCH to see in the night sky in Los Angeles. I discovered that tonight, after my science project sent me looking for the Little Dipper. I can barely see it, but I'm lucky, because it rained yesterday, which means that it's clear. But even in the Hollywood Hills, tucked away in a little neighborhood far from the clogged atmosphere of downtown LA, the sky is drearily blurred and clouded with greenhouse gas and car fumes. It makes me feel far away from the rest of the world, somehow, and that makes me sad. I don't know why, though. It's a strange thing, because being far away from the sky shouldn't make me feel lonely. If anything, a normal person might feel closer to home, realizing that there isn't any way that they will ever be sucked away into space or anything weird like that.

I sigh and look back down at my notebook. One of my legs swings down from the branch I'm sitting on, high up in our large mulberry tree. The yard isn't huge or even very big, but it's nice, with a couple yards of flat ground before a green hill slopes up in the back. We look out over the rest of the city, on the edge of a big drop, but the hill is fenced in with our yard, making it a lot less dangerous. At night, it's pretty spectacular, but not great for looking at stars.

We're the only ones on this funny little precipice. Of course, there are neighbors who live on the sidelines, who have one side with a drop, but our family is the only one on the very edge. This street is sort of a long triangle, like a needle that broadens quickly a few houses down. I've lived here all of my seventeen years, and I love it here. I hope that we never move.

I've strayed from my work again. I add some notes to the open page – _Little Dipper located in the upper right when facing Downtown Los Angeles (south). _Then I shut my booklet. That's enough for tonight. This project is a small one, anyways. It's just to observe one thing about the night sky every possible night at 8:45 PM from February 25th to April 9th, which is when spring break starts.

I sit there for a while longer, leaning back against the curved tree limb. It's Friday, March 25th. That means that I have freedom, finally!

It's not that I don't like school. School is fine. I just need some time to do more exciting things than do homework and tests and boring things all day, everyday. I need something to do!

Staring forlornly at the sky, I try to pinpoint the feeling that is always present in my gut these days. The sky seems so huge, so far away, so lonely and enticing and wonderful at the same time. My heart tugs inside of my chest, and I know. I am feeling longing.

But what am I longing for? I think it might be for travel, or adventure. But I don't want to be an astronaut or anything. Just a new place, someplace where I don't have to follow rules, or be safe, or be boring. Someplace where I can be free, and exhilarated. I would do anything for something like that.

When I climb down the trunk and walk back inside of our house, I look briefly out of the window again. It spans the entire side of the house that faces the drop, which is basically the living room and kitchen space. Something dark blocks out a spot to the right, a small piece of the sky, and moves haphazardly down towards the hiking trail a little ways past out house. I strain my eyes, but I can't see it anymore. Weird.

I try to tell my mother about the feeling I've been having, but she just tells me that I've been reading too many fantasy novels. That isn't funny. Fantasy and fiction are what make me up. Escapism, in a way, is my way of survival. Nobody really understands this, but I get along.

I go upstairs to my room. It, too, has a window occupying the entire wall, but this one has curtains. However, I keep them open. It's not as if anyone can look in from the outside. I like to seclude myself in here. It's quite peaceful, especially with my door locked and movie soundtracks playing from my laptop on my wooden desk.

My bed used to be a bunk bed, but my older sister moved out a long time ago. She's five years older than me, and she just finished college, and is working as a journalist in New York, so I took out old bed and took out the bottom frame to make it so that I could scoot a desk underneath it. The desk is shoved up against the window lengthwise. I roll it backwards and then plunk my beanbag chair in front of it, squished comfortably between its back and the window. Then I position myself with my back in the corner so I can see both the entire room and out of the window, and grab my laptop from my desk.

After scrolling through my music for a while, I decide on Daft Punk's TRON Legacy movie album, and close my eyes and listen for a while, my headphones stuck deep in my ears. The pulsating and yet calming sounds relax me into a sort of trance, and I almost don't feel the strange turn in my gut.

My eyes flash open. The music dies out, and the laptop goes black as my finger presses the power button. My drowsiness is gone, and I'm alert. Something is different.

My parents are asleep. It's 10:00 at night. I leave them a note saying I've gone on a walk. I do this a lot, and tomorrow is a Saturday, so they won't mind. They'll probably find it in the morning, anyhow, so they won't think it was late at night.

I'm in combat boots, olive green pants, and a leather jacket within five minutes. The leaves of the mulberry tree rustle above the hill, and my senses sharpen. This happens sometimes, and I never know why, but I don't mind the sudden _awareness, _because it makes me feel closer to the fantastical worlds I love.

My instinct takes me up the hill and to the fence. It isn't a cliff, but more of a 70-degree angle, pocked with little hills, boulders, bushes, and stunted trees. There is a rarely used little hiking park there, with no houses or properties until the very foot of the hill, where a road winds around the base until it reaches the city. If I'm looking for an object, it may take a while.

I flick on my flashlight. There isn't anything interesting within the first few yards, so I climb over the fence. This area is where two other, huge hills come together, so I hike over to one of the little crevices, where it's easier to climb.

A figure stands on a ledge overlooking both the hills and the city. I look, wide-eyed. He – I'm fairly sure, by the shape, that it is a man - stands alone, leaning against a square object, about a foot taller than he is, and around the same dimensions of a refrigerator. When my eyes begin to adjust (my flashlight is turned off, now), I see that it is a darkish, dusty sort of blue. For the first time, I see that the moon is almost full, and shines brightly against the ledge, making the two objects upon the slab of rock seem like black outlines, except for the sliver of painted wood that is angled so that I can see.

I walk closer, scaling the edge of a rock face until I reach the stone ledge. The man doesn't notice me, and I look at his face for a moment, seeing it for the first time. He would seem young, but his eyes are dark and lonely, solemn. He wears a dark brown pinstriped suit, and a long brown coat, halfway down to his calves, of a different shade, and off-white Converse high tops. Brown hair sticks out in a sort of mop over his forehead, unruly, as if it has a life of its own. Freckles spatter his face, but not closely collected or dark. He has dark brown eyes, wistful and somehow ancient. His lips form a sad line, but not thin, like they are always in that position.

Touched by his emotion, and curious of this strange sight, my legs carry me forward, until I am almost next to him, to his right. Then he sees me, and turns in surprise. His face does look surprised, but not in anger.

"Who are you?" His accent is British. I smile.

"Emma Mason. And you are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor. Now how did you end up here? Must have been hard to drag that blue police box all the way up here." I frown at it for a moment. That's what it is. A 1960s London police phone box. The Doctor glances at me again, with surprise still in his eyes.

"You're not going to ask me, 'Doctor Who?'"

"No. People tend to be sensitive about names. For instance, if I were named something burdensome like Seraphinia, I might call myself Fin, and wouldn't want to be questioned. See my point? Now how and why are you standing on a secluded rock ledge at," I look at my watch, "10:42 PM on a Friday night?"

The Doctor laughs. "I like you. Well, you see, I haven't been here long. It is, however, quite a long story, and you won't be here long enough to see it."

"And why not?" I grin.

He stares at me. "You would really stay here and talk to a complete stranger at night?"

"I think I can trust you. You feel… right."

"And how's that, then?"

I shrug. "I have intuitions about these things. I trust my gut; that's how I found you here."

"You've got quite a talent there, Emma. It takes skill to find someone like me."

"Someone like you?"

The Doctor's brown eyes darken, and his crooked smile fades. "Yes, someone like me. You don't really want to find someone like me, anyhow. You should go, before I'm found by someone less friendly than you."

"What? Why should I leave? Who's following you?"

"I don't know."

I roll my eyes exasperatedly. "Well that helps!"

"Well, they're dangerous, and I don't want anyone getting hurt!"

"That means that _you'll _be in danger."

"That doesn't matter."

"It's your own life!"

"And it's the entire human race! I think that my danger matters a lot less than an entire race, don't you?"

He is getting worked up, and I don't like it. But what's this about an entire human race? "What do you mean?"

"You really should go now."

"No. I want answers. I saw something tonight, and now I'm thinking that you might know more about it."

The Doctor whirls around, his coat swishing behind him. "What!"

"A shape fell across the sky, close to here. It landed around that area." I pointed to the top of the hill to our right."

"I've got to go." The Doctor jumps from the ledge, a seven-foot drop, and touches the ground, already running.

"Wait!"

I run after him, half walking, half sliding, down the slope, and dashing at his heels.

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**End note: Yes, there is more, and I have it written already, but I won't post it yet because I want to see if anyone thinks there should be some change to the plot so I can make edits before submitting. If not, I will post ASAP! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

**I've decided to post the second part early. Give me any feedback you'd like to, I enjoy hearing what people think of the plot or what they think I should add! :)**

Sky Pt. 2

It only takes a couple of minutes to reach the top of the hill. This is mainly because even with the near vertical slop, there are many footholds and leafless trees to hold on to. When I reach the top, the Doctor is standing over a patch of scorched ground. The rest of the hill is completely empty, just a little outcropping like where our house sits, but without a single occupant or landmark besides pale, dusty dirt.

"What happened here?"

"Something fell."

"Obviously. But what?" I scrutinize his features. "You know what it was, don't you."

He stares for a while longer, then sits on the balls of his feet. The Doctor digs a finger into the blackened, ashy ground, and scoops it up. Then, to my horror, he licks it, spits it out, and declares, "Yep. You should def-initely leave now. It's not safe."

I cross my arms. "Like that's going to stop me. Trust me, I've skydived, parachuted, swam with sharks, and when I was five, I was found in the zoo, sleeping with the tigers. I really don't think danger scares me."

The Doctor laughs. "This is different, Emma. This isn't for human eyes to see."

"Who are you, then?"

"The Doctor."

"No. Who ARE you?"

"Just the Doctor. That's my name, that's my job. That's it."

I sigh. This isn't going anywhere. "Please just tell me."

"No."

A screech erupts in the air. Then a dark shape flits across the sky, and shoots down towards us. "RUN!" The Doctor shouts. I don't argue, and he takes my arm and shoots down the other side of the hill and into a huge, old irrigation pipe, half covered with moss and weeds. We barely make it, because the creature screams behind us and barges into the wall of overgrown dirt and vegetation in front of the pipe. It eventually gives up, and flies into the night.

"What was that?"

"I knew it." The Doctor groans. "Why is it always Earth? Why?" And he crawls out of the pipe. We are standing by his police box in five minutes, and then I ask again.

"Doctor, please tell me. What is going on?"

"I suppose I have to tell you now."

And tell me he does. He speaks of the strange beings called Naar, who look like bat-winged goblins and are made practically of heat. All he knows is that he has to stop whatever it is they are going to do to the Earth.

"And who are you to do it?" I never expected something this dramatic, but it's what I wanted, so I decide not to be surprised about alien invaders. I've read too many fantasy novels for this to be a giant shock.

The Doctor sighs heavily. "I'm not… I'm not human, Emma."

That surprised me, but it didn't shock me. How can he look so human if he's not? "A shape-shifter, then?" What other explanation is there? Aliens normally don't look like this… do they?

He laughs. "No, I'm not a shape shifter. I'm a Time Lord; this is what we look like."

"What's that supposed to mean, oh Lord of Time?" I bow exaggeratedly.

"I can travel through time and space. I've got two hearts."

"No way. Two hearts?"

"Most people would be surprised at the travelling part." He laughs again.

"I'm not most people. Are you sure you've got to hearts?"

"Beating right here, in my chest."

"Really?"

"Really. Feel." He takes my hand and presses it to his chest, first on the right, then on the left; two strong, pulsating beats… that's amazing.

I look at him in wonder. This is impossible. "You know, I've waited my whole life for something exciting to happen. And here it is. An adventure. That was amazing."

"Not terrifying?"

I grin at him. "That was the fun part, Doctor."

He smiles back, and leans against his box. "So. I'd better save the world, then, Emma."

"Yeah. I guess so."

His eyebrows furrow for a moment. He looks undecided about something.

"Do… do you want to come with me?"

"What, in there? It looks a bit… small…."

He chuckles. "Well, unless you'll pass that chance at another adventure."

"I… I don't…"

"You don't have to."

"I do want to, it's just…"

"Come inside. Just take a look."

The Doctor opens the door, and when I follow him, I can't believe it. This is the first real thing that surprises me most. The inside of the police box isn't a police box at all, but a huge room, filled with warm yellow light. In the center is a control panel, circling around a tall cylinder filled with cyan-blue light, and the floor is a metal grate, with stairs spiraling down in places, and glass lights brighten up the walls in various places.

"Oh my god…"

The Doctor throws his coat in the crook of two curved, branching columns and leans on one of them as I circle around on the metal platform.

"Yes, it's bigger on the inside, I know."

"Actually, I was going to say that it's amazing, but, yeah, that too!"

He looks surprised, but gives me a crooked smile. The next thought that comes to my head after "amazing" and "bigger on the inside" is "how is this possible?" I run back outside quickly and walk around the exterior of the TARDIS, running my hands around its worn wooden walls. Then I go back inside, marveling at its beauty.

"This is a space ship?"

"TARDIS – Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Yep, she's a spaceship. You want to come with me? Save the world?"

"I'd love too. But what about my family – they'd miss me!"

"Oh, did I not say space _and _time?"

"Oh my god… Seriously?"

"Seriously." The Doctor leans back against the console, with a grin spread brightly across his face. "Come on then! We're going to the city."

"Which one?"

"Oh, London, of course! The aliens usually end up there. This one fell out of his ship early, that's all."

"We're going to London?"

"Oh, yes."

I squeal. I've always loved London!

"With all the places we could go in the universe, you're excited to go to London?" The Doctor laughs for about the twentieth time.

"And why not? We're saving _this _world, aren't we?"

"Of course! Allons-y!"

"What?"

"French for "Let's go!" He yells this as he cranks multiple pumps and flips switches, turns dials, and turns levers. The TARDIS makes a warping sound, like a coming and going noise, a sort of rough warping sound_. _It's like a sort of low-high-low patterned noise that sounds like a combination of wheezing and car brakes screeching, but somehow, it isn't a bad sound. _Vworp, vworp, vworp! _Then there is extreme turbulence and I tumble through the air, knocking over the Doctor as I go. We end up in a tangled, giggling heap, and we get up as the jolting ceases.

"Whoo-hoo-hoo!" he shouts, and I laugh hysterically.

"Go on, open the door!"

"Are you sure it's London?"

"Positive." He checks his watch. "London, England. 11:30 AM, Saturday, March 30th, 2013."

I open the TARDIS doors, and find myself looking from the back of an alleyway at a crowded street. The sun is shining, but the brick building behind us blocks it until it reaches two yards from the end of the narrow street. I walk further from the TARDIS, staring around in wonder. The street is filled with clothing stores and restaurants, and people as well, all talking with British accents. A park sprawled across the street, and I walked down the path, the Doctor at my side. It felt right, casually going along a stone road, underneath trees and surrounded by birds and grass, but most of all knowing that the Doctor was here, that he could take me anywhere but still stayed with me in London, of all places.

"So," I begin, uncertain. "Where do we start?"

"Oh, I don't know. We should just wait, for now. The ship won't have landed yet, if that Naar fell like I think he did. We'll know when it does."

"How's that?"

He looks at his feet and rocks back on his heels sheepishly. "Well, we'll probably know. It isn't every day that an alien ship lands on Earth, is it?"

I laugh, and look around. "We've got to warn them somehow. We can't just wait for them to come! People will get hurt!"

"Not with me around. If we can stop them when they land, no problem."

"We can't exactly stop an army of burning hot, flying bat creatures on our own, not with people around! We have to either convince them to leave, or destroy them all at once!"

He stared at me for a moment, and then exclaimed, "Oh, that's brilliant! Absolutely fantastic! Come on, I know what to do!"

I'm confused. I didn't even come up with a plan, and he praises me? And – oh, crap, he's running off again! I take after him, his coat flapping at my knees, and people turn their heads to look at us. It must be a strange sight – a man in a suit and Converse running with a young girl in a leather jacket, both sets of brown hair unkempt and wild. Even so, I laugh at the absurdity of our situation? What was I thinking, running off with some alien trying to save the world? Why do I even trust him? Well, I do, so it doesn't matter, anyway.

We end up at a large skyscraper. The man in the lobby stares at us, and two security guards step forward dangerously as we barge through the doors.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, and this is Emma Mason. We have full access to _all _of the floors." I notice how he accentuates the word "all," and wonder why.

"You don't look qualified, if you don't mind me saying, sir. A doctor and a teenage girl? I don't think so."

With that, the Doctor flips out a little ID booklet encased in leather, and the man blinks in surprise. "Take the lift to your right, and switch lifts at level sixteen, sir. You know the way."

"Remind me; which way to the Head's office? It's been a while."

"Straight ahead and to your left as you enter the top floor, Doctor, sir. Have a nice day, sir."

As we enter the elevator, I hiss, "What on earth did you show him? Who are you?"

The Doctor grins cheekily. "Oh, it's psychic paper; says whatever I want it to! Apparently we're part of several undercover agencies like this one!"

"Undercover? This is a bank, it says so on the outside!"

"What does the word "undercover" mean, my friend?"

"Oh. Right."

The elevator dings as we reach the sixteenth floor. As we step out and cross to the second elevator, another security guard blocks our way, this time more heavily armed.

"Stop right there. President of the bank's that way. This elevator goes only to the storage rooms."

I glance at the Doctor, and he pulls out the psychic paper again. This elevator takes a longer time, and an automated voice tells us: "You have reached Floor Forty-Seven." When the doors slide open, I am surprised to see a white wall ahead of us, broken only by a door and a neat row of steely metal letters. They read, in all caps, simply "TORCHWOOD."

"Where are we?"

"Torchwood. Undercover alien research base."

"We have alien research bases?" Okay, time traveling alien with a blue box for a space ship is A-OK – but an alien research base here on Earth? That's nuts!

The Doctor winks at me. "Yup. You're not really supposed to know that, though. Remember the word 'undercover?'"

Then the steel doors in front of us swing open as the psychic paper lets us in, and I don't have the words to reply. People in suits and dresses, some with doctor's robes, some without, rush about, all with earpieces hooked around their ears, all with a purpose. What purpose?

"What do they do here?" I whisper.

"All sorts of stuff. You'll see. Just act like you belong!"

"Okay…" I try to straighten my back and look sophisticated – if you can look sophisticated in a leather jacket and army green pants. At least the Doctor is wearing a suit. Well, actually, I don't know who looks more out of place, because not too many people wear light brown overcoats, dark brown pinstriped suits, and blue ties, along with a pair of cream-colored Converse high tops.

He strides forward, and turns left like the guard told us to. Some of the people aren't much older than I am, but even they give me strange looks. I guess it isn't normal for newcomers to barge in like this.

The blinds are closed over a large glass-windowed office at the end of the hall of cubicles. The Doctor knocks three times on the door, and waits patiently, rocking back on his heels again. Then the door swings open. A woman with short black hair stands in the door frame, wearing a fancy black jacket and skirt and a red blouse, her gray eyes sharp and her stature commanding.

"And who might you be?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is Emma Mason."

"Yes, but _who _are you?"

The Doctor shows her the psychic paper.

She narrows her eyes. "That paper is blank."

"_What?_" The Doctor looks shocked.

"Every staff member, me obviously included, has some level of psychic training. You're not who you say you are, Doctor."

"Well, even so, I need your help… ah, what was your name again?"

"I never said." The woman says, her face calculating and hard. "But I am Lynn Gordon, President of Torchwood Industries. We research everything alien, for the good of Britain and for the good of the world."

"Hm." The Doctor looks skeptical, and I don't blame him. I don't trust this Lynn Gordon. "Can I ask you some questions?"

"Inside." Lynn walks into her office and closes the door behind us. She motions for us to sit, and we do. The Doctor swings his feet up onto the desk, legs crossed, and when Lynn looks at him in shock, I elbow him sharply in the ribs, and he puts them down sheepishly. We sit in awkward silence for a few more minutes.

"Right. Well. Okay. Where to start?"

"You tell me."

"It was a rhetorical question, but alright. So. Have you sensed any incoming signals? From anywhere other than your other bases?"

"We haven't detected anything in particular, no. Should we?"

"It might help, yeah."

Lynn stares at him a while longer. He runs his fingers through his unruly brown hair, and then looks up, and jumps in his chair, as if he'd forgotten she was there.

"Right. Um…"

"Why is it you're here, Doctor?"

"I'm trying to figure something out."

"What might that be?"

"Well, basically, the Earth is in danger."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Then how do you know?"

"I don't think alien invaders are a good sign, are they?"

"Alien invaders? When did alien invaders come into this?"

"Today."

Lynn sighs exasperatedly. I don't like her. Neither does the Doctor, judging by his stubborn attitude.

"Just tell me what happened, for God's sake!" That's obviously not something she would normally say, for such a proper, businesslike woman. I almost laugh, but that would just make the situation worse.

The Doctor's eyes darken. "I really don't need to tell you. I've told you all you need to know! Now will you please help me? I need to know their location and arrival time, and you have the systems to detect it!"

"Not until you tell me exactly how much you know!"

"Then we'll have to manage on our own. Come on, Emma!"

**End note: Sorry for the slightly abrupt ending! Tell me if you think the sections should be longer (I wrote this story a few weeks ago so I have like 20 Word Document pages on my laptop, so it wouldn't be a problem to add more to the parts). :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Sky Pt. 3

He whisks out of the door, coat flapping, with a mask of pleasant indifference on his face. But when I look into his eyes, they are whirling, angry, and dangerous. I don't like it. Why didn't he tell her what really happened?

He turns down a new corridor, and this time we enter a blank, pale concrete hallway, at least ten or fifteen yards long. He runs until we reach a metal door cabinet in the wall. It has a keyhole, but it's locked. I'm guessing it's one of those power cabinets used to wire up the computer systems and lighting and security measures. Why we need to hack into their system, I don't know, but for some reason, I don't mind. Adrenaline pulses through me, and I grin. Oh, this is exciting!

"Do you need a hairpin to pick that lock or something?"

The Doctor looks up at me, surprise filling his face. Then he laughs. "You're not even going to question that we are breaking into one of the most important, well-guarded, and dangerous industries in the world?"

I smile right back at him. "Nope!"

"Tell me, Emma. Why do you trust me? You didn't even have to come!"

"Of course I didn't. I wanted to, though. You just feel… right, to me, even though you're a two-hearted, time-travelling alien. I told you before, my gut is never wrong, Doctor, and it led me to you."

"I'm warning you, it's dangerous."

"I know. You've mentioned."

"All right then. No."

"No to what?"

"I don't need a hairpin. I've got this." The Doctor reaches his hand into the inside flap of his coat and takes out a weird-looking, thin silver gadget, maybe seven or eight inches long, and extends it. Then he pushes a knob on the side with his thumb and points it at the lock. It makes a sort of electric buzzing noise and the end lights up blue. Then the lock opens with a loud pop and several sparks.

"What… what is that?"

"Sonic screwdriver."

"Okay." I figure I shouldn't ask little questions like what the hell a sonic screwdriver is. There isn't a point, really. I mean, time travelling alien, saving the world from other aliens, and I trust him, so why question a simple little futuristic tool? I laugh inwardly. Oh, what a strange day this has been! Yesterday, I probably never would have believed what the Doctor's told me, and probably would have freaked out upon seeing the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver. But after seeing strange things in the night sky and being chased by a flaming bat-goblin from space, I don't even think twice about alien technology or hacking into Torchwood's security system. That's what he's doing.

The door swings open, and inside, there are hundreds of messy wires lit up by faint green light. I hear the Doctor mutter something under his breath, "Not attached, just a ruse, hmmm…what are you hiding, Lynn?" And then he runs the sonic screwdriver along several thick yellow wires, and they snap angrily, and then reluctantly fall back to reveal a switch in the side of the power cabinet. "Aha!" The Doctor flips it, and the wires slide up into the ceiling. Behind them lies a blank screen, glowing green. After sonicking (is that even a word?) it, letters begin to appear. T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D. They revolve in circles for a while.

I look closer, and we both lean in.

"Okay, let's see what you can do," the Doctor mutters under his breath. I step back so that he can fit his head and arms within the small steel cabinet, and I look over his shoulder as he uses the sonic screwdriver again. The Doctor runs the tip of the screwdriver along the perimeter of the screen, the blue light buzzing all the while. Then he stops. The screen stays the same, with slowly turning floating over a neon green background.

"GAH! Why won't you work?" The Doctor taps the unlit glass tip of the sonic screwdriver angrily. He fiddles with the settings, the silver end extending and shrinking. I scrutinize it closer now, and see that it has a sort of glass tube that lengthens and shortens when he pushes a dial further along a line. Blue numbers flick by on a little black screen: 50, 51, 52, 53, 54. Then it stops at a medium length and the inch-long silver knob at the end of the knob is still. The blue light buzzes on the tip of that silver knob again as the Doctor presses the "on" button, and he smiles.

"There we go! Setting fifty-four! That should do it!" He reaches back into the little space and the screwdriver buzzes with a higher pitch. Then a hologram pops up from the screen, with spheres orbiting a big letter T made with a sort of honeycomb pattern. "There we are!" I hear the Doctor murmur, and we grin at each other.

"What now?"

"We do what we came for – hack into their system!"

I laugh. Of course! I then crane my neck over his shoulder (he is a lot taller than I thought he was!) to see what he's doing. He uses the (off) sonic screwdriver to tap the spheres, opening different windows asking for passwords. My eyebrows furrow as I see him type the word "buffalo" multiple times on a keypad, bypassing every security code.

"Are you serious? Buffalo?"

"Yup! Brilliant, isn't it? Overrides every government lock!"

Then a the hologram opens up a page full of tiny letters, and the Doctor pulls a pair of rectangular black glasses from his inside coat pocket and puts them on. He squints at the miniscule words and mutters them under his breath, scanning them over quickly. I only catch a few words.

At the top, I see the larger letters spelling the word "TREATY". I feel my heart sinking as I hear more of what the Doctor is reading. "Landing rights… Two months… secret… no harm… four million… You can't be serious. No. No, no, no, no, no! This… Emma, we have to go. NOW!" He grabs my hand, slams the cabinet shut, and races down the corridor, almost dragging me behind him. Adrenaline rushes through me as I try to piece together the words.

The hallway begins to curve until we are running in a direction perpendicular to our previous one. More doors begin to appear on the concrete walls, and people in white scientist's robes worn over business suits walk out of various ones. They all turn to look at us as we rush past, and I hear one of them speak as he lifts a walkie-talkie to his lips: "Security breach at Section N75. I repeat, security breach at Section N75." I run faster to match the Doctor's hurtling pace as we turn corners and burst through doors, knocking over lab tables as we sail past confused employees. I almost want to smile. Danger isn't a problem anymore. In fact, it never was. This is something I've never done before, and anything new and exciting is welcome.

I suddenly am on the verge of realizing what the Doctor read on the screen. My breath quickens. "Doctor?"

"Not now, Emma! We have to get back to the TARDIS!"

I struggle to get the words out as my lungs gasp for air. We are now stumbling down several flights of stairs. We have to get down at least fifty floors, which means a hundred flights of stairs. Security will catch us before we even get past the fortieth floor! I should be scared, but I'm not. Well, I am, but instead of freezing me, like it would a normal person, it feeds into the adrenaline rush and gives me the energy I need to run. I smile. I feel my legs pumping as my muscles exert themselves to maximum speed, and I am almost ahead of the Doctor. It's no small feet, considering his legs are much longer than mine and he's almost a foot taller than I am, and probably fifteen years older.

I finally get the breath to reply. "I need to ask you something," I pause and pant for a few seconds, then continue, "important."

"Be quick, we have to outrun the guards. In ten floors, it'll be the normal business levels, and we'll be safer," Even the Doctor has to stop to breathe. "But go on, if it's that important!"

"What did you read? What is Torchwood really doing?"

"I thought you'd figured it out already."

"I had hoped that you would prove me wrong." And I need to know the truth, I add silently.

He glances at me, his gaze darkening. "Briefly? Lynn and a few others secretly signed a treaty with the Naar to allow them to land on Earth for two months as long as they stayed hidden and caused no harm. But those creatures have no concept of keeping promises, let me tell you! Got it?"

I nod, and we both run faster. I'm not scared or shocked, but I'm not particularly happy, either. Instead, I feel like I finally have a purpose, which is good. The purpose, however, needs my full attention, so my mind switches gears and I focus on running down the endless stairs two at a time.

And then, just as we pass a large painted FN26 on a concrete wall (I'm assuming "Floor North 26"), I hear pounding footsteps around seven flights above us. I give the Doctor a worried look, and he puts a finger to his lips – "silence!" He stops running and tiptoes through a door labeled FN25 and closes it quietly behind me.

"Come on!" He whispers fiercely. I grab his hand again and we rush down a new corridor to a window at the end. The shiny black fire escape is only two feet across and five feet long, but I feel my stomach flip as the Doctor sonics the window latch and slips onto it. I follow nervously just as he disappears down the ladder, out of sight from the security guards who have just burst through the doors. I make sure they don't see me and jump down beside him.

He doesn't give me a chance to talk before silencing me and pulling me into an embrace. We're lucky that there is only another empty hallway behind us on the level below, or we would have been caught instantly. He whispers in my ear, "Hold on tight!" I barely have time to be confused before we are falling through empty space. Now I cling to his coat for dear life, my arms wrapped tightly around him and his holding me steadily in place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

**(accidentally published without these notes again! whoopsies!)**

**Sorry for the wait, I've had a lot going on lately. Please tell me any suggestions you might have, it would help me a lot, and I would be SO GRATEFUL! :)**

**Okay, not much is actually _happening _in the story right now, and I apologize for that, but this fan fiction starts out pretty slow for a while, because I want to sort of delve deeper into the Doctor's personality and their family-type relationship with each other. It only get's really super exciting once they are totally comfortable with each other. I want to make it realistic, because as much as I love adventure, I think I want to make it how I would react to the Doctor. The character is a lot like I am, so it's a bit of a personal point of view, which means that it might be a bit boring for a while. I hope you don't mind! Tell me if you get REALLY bored and annoyed and I will fast forward a bit. I am welcome to ALL suggestions, like a change in their relationship or a plot point or an idea for what should happen next. Please give me any possible feedback!**

**My goodness, what a long note. Sorry. I tend to ramble a lot. You might want to get used to it. Oh no, I'm doing it again. Let's get to the point; just go ahead, read this, and enjoy! (hopefully...) **

* * *

Sky Pt 4

About thirty feet before we hit the ground of the alleyway next to the skyscraper, the Doctor points his screwdriver at a window ten feet below. It swings open as the glass shatters, and his fingers close around it just in time. The glass is all gone, so he has a perfect bar to hold on to. My breath is coming fast through me teeth, and I can feel how fast my heart is beating. I lean my head against his chest, hearing his two hearts beat a steady _ba-da-ba-dum_, and his one free arm hugs me tighter. Even if we weren't dangling twenty feet above the ground, I wouldn't have let go for anything in the world. His presence makes me feel safe, in a way that only a close relative can make me feel. It's just so right, like he is a relative or a very close friend and I've known him forever.

I then remember our predicament, and look down; not to see how high we were, but to see if I could land anywhere safely without plummeting down to break our legs if not our entire bodies. My feet, which are slightly lower than the Doctor's Converse, stretch out to their limit, and I stretch my neck to attempt to see what they are close to. I finally reach long enough to hook a booted toe around a window latch and open it safely. It locks in place, and the sole of my shoe presses down until I am sure that it's steady. I hold on to the edge of another windowsill with one hand, the other arm still wrapped around the Doctor, and I carefully drop down onto the top of the open window ledge below me. I stand in a precarious position, hands curled tightly around a bar of steel and feet balanced on another, but I somehow manage to swing myself into the opening, tumbling into a second-floor office building. I am surprised to find myself sprawled across an astonished, overweight employee's desk, and he gapes at me speechlessly as I stretch my hand out to help the Doctor through as well.

"Sorry, we're window cleaners, but we had a slight mishap. We'll be on our way now, thanks!" I give the poor guy a bright smile and walk along his now-messy cubicle and hop to the floor. I grin at the Doctor over my shoulder as we walk out back to the staircase again, followed by the eyes of an utterly silent crowd of business workers.

When we reach the empty stairwell, we both burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter. "_Window _cleaners? That's impressive!" He chuckles. "Oh, that was brilliant, just brilliant!"

We walk out of the building still laughing, and we aren't even followed. Even so, we make several detours back to the park, and cross the grass again to reach the little backstreet where the TARDIS still sits. Once inside, the Doctor inserts a flash drive that I hadn't noticed before into a slot in the control panel.

While a screen hanging over the console loads, I ask him, "What is that? Did you take it from the power cabinet?"

"Yep. Even you didn't notice – all of that information is always stored on a backup, ready in case of an emergency. All you have to do is look in the right place – next to the screen! Easy, actually!"

"So it has all of the information on it? The entire treaty?"

"And, better yet, the signal leading to the Naar ships! Remember, this was sent electronically, which means that it left an invisible trace in the air to wherever it was sent from, which is most likely the main control room on one of their spaceships. And, with my Time Lord technology," The TARDIS makes a slight sighing noise, and the Doctor murmurs under his breath: "-sorry, the TARDIS technology-" and then raises his voice again, "we can follow that trace to its source!"

There is still one question left unanswered, however. "But why did we have to run so quickly?"

"Well, the treaty was officially made about two weeks ago. The Naar really only need about twelve days to restock their ships and get the proper fuel they need to travel. Which means that the stray Naar that attacked us yesterday – well, actually, it was only three hours ago, but we're on London time now – was falling from a ship that was _leaving _early. They can't be up to any good, so we need to stop them before they do any harm! Get it?"

"Yeah. But how do we stop it?"

"Ah, that's the problem. We have to figure out why they're actually here, and we can only do that by tracking the signal and finding them! Here we are!" The Doctor stops talking to look at the screen, which is now blaring green letters forming the word TREATY followed by small letters, just like before. This time, however, the Doctor shifts his sonic screwdriver to another setting (the sound slides to a higher pitched buzz) and points it at the screen. The end starts flashing with blue light and makes a consistent beeping noise, changing pitches as he swirls it though the air.

"There we go! Aha! This pitch," the Doctor points it in one direction and it makes a medium, very loud note, "means we're going in the right direction, and anything sounding like this," he swings it in an arc and the sounds get lower in sound and pitch, "means we're lost. Gotcha?"

"Gotcha!" I grin. "When do we leave?"

"Whenever you want to. For now, however, I need to think. Rest, actually. It's been ever so long since I've done that. You can go out and do whatever it is humans do in London, if you like, I'm just going to drift in space and reappear a few seconds after I left, or maybe before, I haven't decided yet! Or you can stay with me, and I'll show you around the TARDIS! Then in a few hours, we'll go back and find the Naar – sound like a good plan?"

It isn't a hard decision to make. "Of course I'll stay!"

"Good!" The Doctor looks pleased, which surprises me somehow. His brown eyes are dark and old and infinitely sad, and for the first time, I see them become warm and bright. His face will always light up at an adventure, but his eyes have never changed until now. I suppose making it official that I'll stay makes him happy, but I don't know why, because he barely knows me.

To me, it doesn't matter. I suddenly realize everything that has just happened in the past few hours. It seems impossible, but in my heart I know it isn't, not anymore. Anything is possible now that I've met the Doctor, and I've discovered that running is always scary and never boring, and then I think of something else – if we can go to London, where else is there?

I walk past the Doctor and examine a little cyan-colored button. I look at the console, circling around it multiple times, just awed at its impossible complexity and the fact that I was actually looking at it.

And then I feel dizzy. My knees go slack and the Doctor looks alarmed as he grabs my arms to keep me up. I get deposited in an old, yellowing, over-stuffed office chair, and I think about yet another thing. Images flash through me head, and I close my eyes for a moment.

I see the Naar, its ugly face contorted into a grimace. I see the TARDIS, my view twirling both inside and out, and I see the Doctor, his eyes full of stars as he stares into the indigo sky, and I see both of us lying on our backs and laughing as we land in London. And then I see Lynn and the concrete halls and the rooms passing us by as we rush through them, and I see the Doctor as he falls through the air and I see my foot reaching for the edge of the windowsill. The last image I see is of something I haven't seen before. My mind's eye floats in the center of a three-dimensional black and purple space, filled with bright, tiny points of yellow and larger spots of reddish color and splashes of light. I am in the middle of space, and I soar through the empty blackness, watching as planets go by and I burst through stars as if I am a ghost. It could have been seconds and it could have been days. I fall down to touch the ground on various planets, but I never stay, and as a result I only catch glimpses of dense rainforest, a landscape filled with white grass, cities made of glowing silver metal and bright orange rivers and creatures that my mind could never have made up on its own. It could have been seconds and it could have been days

I open my eyes and am surprised to find myself on a bed. The Doctor is nowhere in sight. The room I'm in is simple, with blank cream-colored walls and the only pieces of furniture being this queen-sized bed, a side table, and a tall mirror opposite me. I stand shakily and walk over to it and eye my reflection.

My long, wavy brown hair is slightly rumpled and curled in its deteriorating braid, and my gray eyes are unnaturally wide. I notice that I've gained a few scattered freckles on my cheekbones, and my face looks narrower than it had before. Standing in front of the mirror, I also realize two other things – one, I look shorter than my five-foot-four-inches, and two, the reason for it is that my boots are gone and I'm wearing only my plain black socks. Also, my leather jacket is nowhere to be seen, leaving me in a tight-fitting dark gray t-shirt and my green pants. That's weird.

Turning away from my reflection, I look around the room for my simple black combat boots, and don't see them anywhere. I sigh. "Great. Stuck in who-knows-where after waking up from the weirdest dream I've ever had, and I don't even have my shoes." Wait. Something's wrong. I furrow my eyebrows in thought. What am I missing?

Okay. Weird dream. Let's start there. I was traveling through space, and before that, I was looking for aliens with another alien called the Doctor. Okay. Back up. I'm confused now. Where is the Doctor? Was that even real?

I rub my eyes. Oh god, why isn't my brain working?

First things first; Let's take a look around, Emma. That's it, move your feet _forward, _not _sideways. _Good. Okay. Mobility regained.

I open the door and find myself facing a wall three feet before me. At first I am very perplexed, but then I realize that there is a warmly lit corridor running to either side. It has silver walls, and the ceiling is curved and slightly lower than normal. I'm standing near the middle of it, with a dead end at one side and a door at the other. No other doors open in the walls, but that doesn't surprise me, because it's only about four yards long.

My socks pad silently along the smooth metallic floor until I get to the door at the left. It slides open for me with a hum, and I find myself in, oddly enough, a library. When I see what's inside, I gasp.

I'm standing on a clear balcony at least thirty feet above the floor. Wooden bookshelves line the rounded walls all around the balcony until they reach halfway across the room, where the walls turn into floor-to-ceiling windows. The entire library is a dome shape, and the ground floor, reachable by a graceful mahogany staircase, is glass just like the windows and balcony. More bookshelves curve around in various areas in the vast space, never touching the wall on the glass half, and I can't tell what's below me because a Persian rug covers the clear balcony except for the edges.

I make my way down the stairs and turn around. The backs of the half-circle bookcases are covered in framed paintings, and warm yellow light covers little reading nooks and sets a warm tone on the thick carpets where the glass half ends, and double doors lead into what I'm sure is another silver corridor. I don't open them, however; instead, I turn back to see what is actually outside of the glass. I hadn't really paid attention before.

And that's when I'm really surprised. A huge planet floats outside, covering at least half of the view, covered in blue water and white and green continents, nothing like Earth. Two moons, one orange and one entirely pink, orbit the planet, and an entirely different star system than what we see at home surrounds the scene.

Okay, this can't be real. I'm still dreaming, right? I pinch my arm, hard, and then wince. Nope, not dreaming. Then maybe they're just screens? So when I look closely, I'll be able to see the pixels! I smile. Okay, figured it out!

But when I walk over to the glass half of the floor and squint closely, all I see is a slight reflection of my pale face, and the surface is squeaky clean, not what a computer screen would feel like at all. This is impossible.

I look across to the other side of the room, the entirely glass half of the massive dome, and notice a figure facing the planet outside. He wears a long brown overcoat and I can see his chocolate colored hair almost defying gravity (how is there even gravity if we're in space?) messily above his head, illuminated by the light of the pink and orange moons and the stars far out in the blackness surrounding us. It's the Doctor.

I find my feet carrying my body over to him and then stopping a few feet away. He doesn't turn his gaze from the icy planet, but I see his eyes twinkle slightly and the corners of his mouth turn up the tiniest bit.

"All of it was real?" I whisper in awe. I don't feel afraid anymore, not like I was when I sat down on the chair in the TARDIS. I don't feel overwhelmed with the impossibility, but instead with the possibility, the endless amount of things that can be done now that I know that everything I ever imagined could be real.

"Yes." He doesn't elaborate.

"How long was I out?"

"Two days."

"_What?"_

_?" _I stare at him, dumbfounded. That's not right. That _can't _be right!

"I don't know what happened, Emma, not exactly, but I have an idea. You were overwhelmed by the ideas of space and time travel, which is normal, but it turned into something else after about an hour, so I moved you to that bedroom. You had a fever, and you wouldn't wake up, so I kept you comfortable and hoped for the best. Your fever broke last night, though, so I knew you'd be fine. Has this ever happened before? Do you know of anything that could cause this?"

I stare at him, and then smile mischievously. "For once, you don't know what to do, do you?"

"Well, I'm not asking for your help again, so just answer, please!" He looks awkwardly at his feet, waiting for me.

I tell him about my dreams, and he frowns. "Maybe the TARDIS filtered into your dreams so that you saw everything she's seen outside of Earth somehow. Are you sure you didn't see any actual events, besides the past ones?"

"Yeah, just places and occasionally weird alien races, but never any interaction. It was sort of just a really long, strange tour."

"That's interesting. Hm. Well. Um." He doesn't seem to know what to say next now that we've ended that line of conversation. He rubs his nose. Then takes out his rectangular glasses and starts to polish them with extreme concentration using the edge of his sleeve. I notice that he's changed into a dark dusky blue suit and a dark red tie. I try to rock back on my heels like I sometimes do and feel my feet slip, and I remember something.

"Where are my shoes?"

"Oh!" The Doctor slips his glasses back into his coat pocket and hurries up the stairs, waiting for me up at the top. When I reach him, he continues walking. "I took them off before I put you in the bed so that you weren't uncomfortable. Here," He opens the door back up to the bedroom and opens up the door to a closet that I hadn't seen before. Inside are three layers of shelves on the bottom and a rod with hangers above them. My boots sit on top of the first shelf and my jacket hangs neatly on one of the hangers. Otherwise, the wardrobe is entirely empty.

"Where are we?" After tugging on my shoes and coat, I finally realize that although I know we're in space, I have no idea where we are actually traveling and what sort of thing we're in.

"The TARDIS, of course!"

"It can't possibly be that big! The control room alone is only a quarter of the size of the library!"

"Bigger on the inside, remember? I can add rooms whenever I like, so I created a guest bedroom by adding it to the TARDIS program. Of course, there were other rooms beforehand, but I decided it would be nice for you to be able to find the library easily, since that and the control room, which by the way, is just a hallway down from the library main doors, are the two places where I spend most of my time. Bathroom is on the second left in that same hallway, but I can make one here, if you like. We should stay in the TARDIS for at least the rest of today to make sure you're feeling all right, or we can go back to Earth for the day instead, if you feel like going home. Tomorrow, I'm going to go find the Naar, but you don't have to if you feel like it's too much for you. If you like, I can take you home right now, exactly five minutes after we left on that Friday night. It's perfectly fine if that's how you feel; not everyone is suited for space travel. After all, it's rather _big _out there, and I can probably manage on my own, I've done it before…" He trails off when he realizes that I'm staring at him.

"Doctor, I'm fine. Trust me, the TARDIS helped me over the past two days. I don't feel overwhelmed anymore. I want to stay with you!"

"You… you do?"

"Of course I do! I told you that before, and I'm sticking to that decision! Now what about that tour we were talking about on early Saturday afternoon?"

The Doctor grins, and looks actually happy. "Right! Okay. Where do you want to start?"

"Take me anywhere!"

* * *

**End Note: Okay, this section was a whole lot longer. How long should each chapter even be? I don't know much about these things, haha. Please don't forget to give me suggestions and feedback! (I'm really sorry for persisting so much about this, but I REALLY need some feedback!) Thanks so much, guys! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, first things first: Thank you all for your reviews! I really appreciate them and would love to hear more! All suggestions welcome as always.**

**One more thing before I start rambling again like last time: the relationship of the Doctor and Emma. How should I continue it? I guess the only reason it isn't currently romantic is because of age (she's only sixteen, as apposed to in her twenties and fully mature like Rose Tyler) and also out of embarrassment - some of my close friends read this and I'm not sure they'd approve, haha. I might change it in the future, but I need your opinion! I could make it just a light thing, like you can tell they're attracted, but nothing major happens or anything. I'm really indecisive about this, so please give as many tips as possible on what YOU think should happen! :) Thank you SO MUCH! :D**

**(This was partly on Nonnie's behalf - someone reviewed it and asked about it, so this is my reply, as I couldn't reply to an anonymous review.)**

**Okay, enough of that. (sorry, this chapter is a lot shorter - I need to write more! I wrote all of this a couple weeks ago, and now I'm catching up to myself. I'd guess that I only have a few more chapters left, two at the most, until I run out of old material and have to write more!) ENJOY! :)**

* * *

Sky Pt. 5

And so the Doctor shows me back to the control room, and takes me down various hallways, showing me living rooms and bars and greenhouses and miniature museums, and oddly enough, a room full of bunk beds. There are bathrooms and bars and an office and a room filled with candy and a kitchen and several bedrooms of different styles. All of them look mainly unused. He takes me down dozens of stairwells until we reach a room with a skating rink, and then we walk through a room crowded with birch trees. After passing another hallway of unoccupied, undisturbed bedrooms, I ask him a question.

"Where is your room? Don't you ever sleep?"

"I don't need to sleep, I'm not human."

"Yes, you do. There are bags under your eyes, Doctor. When's the last time you actually laid down in a bed and slept?"

"Two weeks ago."

I stop in my tracks, just as we are about to go up another staircase, this one with the same metal grate flooring as in the TARDIS control room.

"_What! _Doctor, you _need_ to rest. Trust me - that's not healthy, regardless of whether or not you're human. When I go to bed tonight, I'm going to make sure you're in yours, too!"

He starts to protest, but I reach out my hand (he's at least eight inches taller than I am) and cover his lips with a finger, silencing him. He sighs, and defeated walks up the stairs. We're at least twenty floors down, so after about five floors, the Doctor decides that we shouldn't go all the way up to the big control room just yet.

Instead, the Doctor turns into a completely empty, dome-shaped room. It is unmarked and silver, with a white, flat light in the ceiling. The Doctor motions for me to be silent and reaches a hand out into the air after going only one step into the room.

"Scanner, activate."

A robotic, automated voice fills the air. "STATE YOUR NAME AND INTENTION!"

"Doctor. Universal maps. Go to previous coordinates."

Suddenly, the floor glows blue, and colored holograms appear in the air. The image centers on a familiar blue-green planet with a single moon. Earth.

"Why are you showing me this? I know what my planet looks like!"

"Yes, you do."

"And I've seen plenty others in my dream, too!"

"But do you know any of their facts? The details? Even the names?"

"Well, no, but -"

"What do you remember liking? Tell me as much as you can about one particular place."

I begin to tell him about a planet that I stayed on for longer than most. It is all water, with trees that soar hundreds of feet above the freshwater sea. There is no dry land, so the people of the planet hollow out the insides of the trees and build natural-looking wooden structures on the tops without killing any trees at all. The habitants are somewhat humanoid, but have what look like reversible joints and long, flexible, and well-muscled limbs and tails, and were skinny and compact, like jungle cats. They are all dark-skinned and mostly have bright green or orange eyes.

The Doctor listens for a long time to my awed voice, but although he doesn't stop me, I know from the immediate spark in his eyes that he recognized the planet almost before I started.

"Arborana – named, obviously, for its trees. The cat-like people are called Arbani, because they live in the trees, but they aren't the only occupants."

"What are the others like?"

The Doctor grins. "You'll see!"

"What?"

"Come on!"

He grabs my hand and runs out of the hologram room, taking me down many metal-grate-floored halls until we reach a control room. This one is smaller, but it still has all of the buttons and nozzles and knobs and levers and the cyan cylinder.

"What are you doing?"

"I told you," the Doctor says with his crooked smile, "You'll just have to wait and see, Emma! Hold on!"

He yanks on a red lever and cranks a strange-looking glass wheel. The TARDIS makes some strange noises, and the Doctor laughs as wind fills the little control room. The blue vortex makes its unique noise.

"Emma, press that yellow button!"

"This one?"

"No, the one next two the warp drive – err, the number-y thingy to your left."

"This one?"

"Yes, that's it!" He now has to shout above the loud sounds, and we are rocked violently back and forth. The Doctor spins an amber globe, and suddenly, the TARDIS spins rapidly in spirals, hurling us in every which way, and then slows to a gradual halt.

"Where are we?"

"Open the doors."

I eye him carefully, but he gives me no clues but for a cheeky little smirk. I roll my eyes, and cautiously make my way to the TARDIS doors. The wood feels old and rough against my smooth fingers, and my hands tighten around the metal door handle. My heart beats faster. I have no idea what to expect. I don't even know if we're on Earth anymore.

When I unlatch the doors and pull them open, I see it – _we are absolutely, most definitely NOT on Earth._

The TARDIS is floating. Literally, it is floating on water. I don't know how it stays up, but it must have some sort of balance system in its circuits or whatever.

The second thing I notice is the color of the sea beneath me. It is an impossible color, a light-ish, pure, gemlike turquoise, like Hawaii's shallow bays, but it isn't shallow, it's deep as any ocean should be. In the distance, I can see it turn different shades of blue and green, and pink and orange in some places. When I look up, there are two bright golden suns and gigantic, dim moon hanging in the pale blue sky.

And then I look around me, turning to my left and right, and my jaw drops open. At first, I don't register what I'm seeing – it looks like massive brown cliffs, or maybe buildings. But when I look closer, I see that I am mistaken.

Trees tower high in the air, the smallest being well over three hundred feet tall. Each tree is at least twenty feet thick, if not more. They are so large that it's hard to measure the distance from the TARDIS to the beginning of the extensive forest to my left. As far as I can tell, there isn't any way to find out without swimming there, because there isn't any dry land in sight. I realize suddenly what the Doctor has done, and I feel incredibly stupid for not seeing it earlier.

I spin back to face the inside of the TARDIS again, and my hair whips around in its braid. My feet carry me across the floor as if in a dream. My head tilts backwards to look up at the Doctor's pleased face from my lower vantage point.

"You took me to Arborana. You did it for me." I whisper in awe.

"Is that so surprising? I'm not always that dangerous, you know. I can be kind, if I want to be. I said all of time and space, didn't I?" He says it softly, though; gently, not as teasing as it should have been.

I don't know what to do anymore, with an entire universe laid before my feet. So I take a few more steps forward, hesitantly, lean into the Doctor's chest, and hug him. He seems surprised, but I sense his arms wrap around my back, warming me. I just feel so safe and secure there; it's impossible that it could ever have been any different. I've thought so many times of how strange it is that I trust this man with my life, but I know it's true. I've known him for about four waking hours and forty-eight sleeping ones, and that's enough. There isn't a question about it – I will follow him anywhere because of what he has done for me.

"Doctor?"

"Emma." He smiles down at me with warm chocolate eyes.

"I'm never leaving you, no matter what you tell me or what happens. Do you know why?"

He stares for a moment longer, and blinks once without answering, just waiting for my reply. Then I say it, the one thing that sums up all of my feelings.

"It's because you guided me out of a meaningless life and showed me a world of wonders without even taking me off of Earth at first, and instead of leaving me behind, you let me come with you. Doctor, you showed me the sky."

* * *

**End note: Understand the title now? Yeah? 'Kay good. :)**

**Again, many apologies for the small length of this section.**

**And one last reminder (and even more apologies for the constant prodding about this matter) - give any tips or suggestions or critiques as you think necessary! Open to anything and everything! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Okay, I know it's confusing, but this is actually the beginning of Chapter Two. I divide my chapters into sections, and then I divide the book into chapters. Get it? Got it? Good. Haha**

**I'm going to start this off by answering some of Nonnie's questions again.**

**1) First of all, thank you for your support. I think I will do as you suggest and sort of gradually ease into a stronger relationship. :) Not for a bit, though. A few adventures are yet to come!**

**2) This is sort of an AU story, so the Time War happened and some of that stuff and the antagonists are similar, but none of the companions. I just want him to be able to be there for Emma without the feeling that he will lose her like he did Rose. Get it? However, I may include River. Maybe. It might be a bit too hard to resist, LOL!**

**3) I don't think he will regenerate, although he might. It won't be canonical, though. That wouldn't make sense, because his companions sort of never happened, haha. It's hard to coordinate all of this stuff.**

**4) Both, I believe. It'll have a generally continuous storyline, but separate events happening within them, like seasons and episodes, but slightly different. Understand?**

**5) Thank you! :) She's quite a lot like me. It's almost like a diary that never happened. I tend to write about things that I wish would occur to me but probably never will.**

**Yes, thank you for giving me such excellent feedback! :) You should get an account or login or something, because I can't find a way to contant you without annoying others who actually read these A/Ns haha. Sorry guys. You might actually find this helpful, though.**

***stop rambling, you doofus* *okay, okay, I will***

**Enjoy this section, feedback welcome as always! Love you all!**

* * *

Sky Pt. 6

Chapter Two

THE DOCTOR SMILES at me.

"Emma, you are one amazing girl, you know that?"

"If you say so."

He lifts me up so that I can reach my arms around his neck, and the Doctor squeezes me one last time and then sets me down on the ground, like my dad used to when I was a little kid. Then we walk over to the open TARDIS doors together.

"So who are the other inhabitants?"

Instead of replying, the Doctor crouches down onto the balls of his feet and swirls a finger in the bright blue-green freshwater sea.

"Oi, you lot! I know you're hiding! We need transport!"

To my surprise, when I look past the swirling green kelp, I see a face pop out of the vegetation. It's covered in strong, smooth skin, and the eyes are large, slanted, and completely back. Fins protrude from the sides of its cheeks. Seaweed-like hair swirls from her scalp (it's long and very feminine) and she wears a thinning dress made of brownish kelp. The weirdest part is that instead of having human-colored skin, hers is deep turquoise. I would think that she was a mermaid, but the only strange thing about her legs is their color and the fins sticking from their calves.

The Doctor sighs when she doesn't come any closer.

"Come on, we only need to get to that big tree over there!" He points to a larger tree with very low branches, almost touching the water.

Resentfully, the water woman swims upward and beckons to something behind her. To my surprise, I see an entirely different sort of creature emerge from the thick kelp forest.

The first thought I have is _"Oh my god, it's a dragon!"_

That's what it looks like. It has a very sleek form, with a long, slightly narrow face, and the same deep turquoise colored skin as the water nymph (which seems like an appropriate name for her), except with streaks of silver. Fins extend from the animal's long arms, and also from its snaking tale and hind legs. However, instead of wings like I usually think of dragons, it just has little paddles, like water proof bat wings. Its eyes are bright golden and intelligent.

Another sea dragon swims next to it, this one streaked with golden orange with green eyes. The Doctor grins at me.

"Meet Arani, the freshwater sea nymph. She can understand you, so be kind."

"Wait, so she's actually a sea nymph?"

"Well, no, but that's what she'd be if she were from earth, and it's the closest translation, so I figured it'd be easier for you than telling you that they're actually called Marii and aren't really anything like mythical nymphs at all."

"Okay, thanks… I guess? Who are these two?"

"Let's see…" The Doctor closes his eyes and his dark eyebrows furrow in concentration. Then they pop open, and he laughs.

"Emma, this is Aria," he points to the turquoise one, "and this," he points at the orange-gold one, "is Benji."

"They have human names?"

"Why not?"

"Okay. Well… are they our transport?"

"Yep!"

Then I realize something. "Wait. How did you know their names?"

"Highly psychic creatures. If they like you, you can connect into their mind and talk with them, no matter what language you speak. You don't even need the TARDIS translator!"

"The what?"

"Didn't I tell you? Once you've been inside the TARDIS long enough, it translates any language in the entire universe for you so that you can speak English to an ancient Greek and they'll understand you, and you them."

"Oh. So that's why Arani can understand you?"

"No, I spoke Arboranian to her, the TARDIS translated my voice for you. They like to know that I can speak their language."

I stare at him. "How many languages do you speak?"

"Not many – only forty seven. Actually, I only speak this one because I found it quite interestingly similar to Afrikaans or Dutch, and wanted to find the differences. The rest I had to learn because the species have trust issues or need passwords or something, and maybe ten out of personal interest. In school, we had to learn at least five, though, as a part of the Shadow Proclamation's orders. Judoon was quite amusing to learn. And also the language of…" He trails off as he realizes how fast he's been rambling on, and looks at his feet.

"Right then. Off we go!"

"What?"

"Do what I do, just trust me!"

"Always." I say this quietly. I think he hears me, although he makes no notice.

The Doctor, giving no warning, leaps into the water and onto Benji's back, which is now safely above the sea level, so his passenger isn't wet. I follow suit and sit on Aria. They are the size of a very long, large horse, and the way the water dragons are shaped, I can sort of lie across her like I'm on one of those horizontal motorcycles or a jet ski. The skin is thick and rubbery, like a dolphin's, but tougher and much more muscular. The fins on her back are placed so that a pair of human elbows can fit perfectly over them, hooking the rider in place while her hands grip two horns sticking out from its upper chest, and the human's legs can straddle the dragon's low waist and her feet can fit just above where its powerful hind legs begin. It's a perfect match.

I'm not sure, however, how that works with a Time Lord. The Doctor doesn't seem to have much trouble holding onto Benji's shoulder horns, but although Benji is larger than Aria, his legs are just slightly too long, forcing the Doctor to scoot forward a bit more than necessary. I suppress a giggle watching him attempt to tuck his legs on top of the beginning of the dragon's tail without slipping off or harming him.

"Doctor, you need any help?"

"I'm perfectly fine. Just need to make some…" he grunts as his foot slips and nearly plunges into the water, "adjustments, and we'll be able to go."

"What about Arani? Can't she help you?"

The Doctor looks startled as he remembers his host. "Oh, terrible sorry, ma'am. Nearly forgot you were here. Um. Well, any tips? I'm fine, of course, but I was just curious…" I hear a funny tittering noise as the nymph laughs, showing pointed teeth.

"Here, you only have to ask, Lord of Time." She whispers in Benji's ear, and he stretches out a little bit so that the Doctor can successfully lodge his feet in the crook of his leg. He looks embarrassed, and I laugh with Arani.

"Don't laugh! I haven't ridden one of these for a long time!" He frowns and runs his fingers through his hair, causing it to stick up in every direction, almost defying gravity. "No, Benji, don't be offended, I didn't mean to make you sound like a mere animal! You're brilliant, you are!" He pauses again, and then rolls his eyes. "No, I'm not just saying that to make you happy! You're some of the most intelligent creatures in this solar system! I mean it!" Benji shakes his head excitedly, causing the water to ripple, and the Doctor pats his neck affectionately and laughs. "Ready to go, then?"

Both dragons make bugling noises and slap the water with their streamlined flippers. I grin. Then something strange happens. I feel something prod at my mind, not physically, but mentally. I suddenly feel very scared and exposed, like the walls surrounding my mind have disappeared and if I stray too close to the edges, I might fall off of the brink and become lost in the void around it.

A tendril of thought reaches through the breach in my defenses.

_So, Emma, are YOU ready? _I sense amusement in the smooth feminine voice.

_Are you Aria?_

_ Yes. Will you answer my question?_

_ I… Yes. I mean - I'm ready. Yeah. Okay._

Aria makes a sound of bubbly laughter within her mind.

_You don't sound so sure._

_ I'm not. But I'll do it anyway._

_ I like you, Emma._

_ How did you know my name?_

_ We may not be able to speak aloud in your tongue, but we can understand most languages. I heard the Doctor speak your name._

_ Oh. Okay._

_ So where are we to take you?_

_ I don't know. I'll ask the Doctor._

I look up at him. Benji is a few feet diagonally to the right of us, so he has to turn his head to face me.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, that'll have to be a surprise! Just have Aria follow Benji here, and we'll get there soon enough!" He winks at me and scratches Benji's orange-streaked head.

"Off we go, then!"

_Hold on tight, young one! _Aria suddenly lurches forward, and then we are quickly accelerating. It's nothing like I've ever experienced, with an easy rhythm to fall into, like I'm riding on a very comfortable, very large dolphin, but so very fast, and so very different. At some point, I almost forget that I'm riding on an alien water dragon and I just close my eyes and let my fingers drift on the water, careful to keep my body above its reach.

The scenes around me are beautiful. The water is so deep and yet so lightly colored, and multicolored fish swim beneath us, causing it to ripple with light. The TARDIS floats so far away already, and around us is literally an endless ocean, without any dry land whatsoever. The Doctor looks back at me and smiles warmly, his hair ruffled in the wind. Benji falls back so that he is swimming side by side with his companion, and the Doctor lets go with his left hand and reaches out to me.

We hold hands across the water, and then, since the noise of the water makes it hard to speak, he shouts in my ear.

"Can I talk to you?"

"You're talking now!"

"Yes, but it's too hard. What I mean is, do you mind if I speak to you in your head like Aria did?"

It somehow seems to be an intimate question. I feel hesitant, but then I remember how much I trust him.

"Yes."

"Okay. Emma, you need to trust me more than ever before. I need you to understand what it means to travel with me. I'm not just any average bloke. This may be a nice little vacation, but it can turn dangerous at any second. If you really want to stay with me forever, you need to know who I am."

"You're the Doctor, and I've already made my decision."

"You didn't know what you were talking about."

"Yes, I did."

"I still need to show you this. Are you sure about this? When I say talk, I mean that I need to be inside of your mind and show you something _very _important. Have you got that?"

"Yes." I don't hesitate. I knew there would be danger when I followed him, and I'm not scared, not anymore.

"It isn't going to be pretty."

"Okay." I look into his sad brown eyes. I don't know what is going to happen next, and although I feel a trace of doubt, it isn't enough to make me afraid. That's what I tell myself.

"Close your eyes."

I close them. I breathe in deeply and hear the Doctor do the same.

I am again in that black space of my mind, with the walls down. This time, the tendril isn't silvery or wispy at all. It is golden and red and powerful, a bright light in the darkness. I gasp at its immense strength.

_If there is any memory or thought that you don't want me to see, imagine a door and close it._

I think of a plain brown door and close it on my inner thoughts, so I can speak without distraction.

I sense a slight laugh. _Smart. Most people don't think of that until later, and then I feel like a crowd is shouting different things at me all at once. Thank you._

_ You're welcome. I guess. What were you going to show me?_

_ I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry._

_ What for?_

_ For this._

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**__End note: Really sorry guys, it's a cliffhanger. I'm also sorry for my really choppy conversation writing. I need to work on that a lot. Promise you'll like the next chapter, though you may find it sad. It might take a little while for me to finish it, unless you'd like me to post a one-pager or something. Let me know. Thanks again!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, this is a shorter chapter, but it's newly written, so it took me a bit longer to get up. Remember, feedback is always welcome! :)**

**Hope you enjoy!**

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Sky Pt. 7

_A stream of images flash through my mind, and suddenly I am someone else, standing at the top of a valley of red and orange grasses, crimson mountains with pure white snow lining the edges. A citadel sits not far away, entombed in a great clear orb, filled with golden spires and warm light, with tall, shining buildings and a stunningly intricate city, all contained in the thick glass sphere. An orange sun hangs in the sky, and several moons as well. Trees with pale pink-white flowers decorate the hills around the ridge where my figure stands._

_ It's beautiful, with the orange sky and fiery colors, but then I look around the city, and become immensely sad. The glass dome is cracking. Screams echo across an expansive battlefield, happening both in the air and upon the ground. Wrecked ships litter the ground, and I hear electric whirs and zapping noises as multiple beams of light cross the sky. It's utter chaos, with metal creatures soaring across the air with grating voices screeching, "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" and battle cries roaring at them from opposite sides. Bodies of different shapes and sizes pile on the ground below, and I see bursts of light pop up across several spots. Then some of the people I had thought to be dead rise from the carnage and return to the raging battle, only to fall from the sky yet again. It's horrible._

_ I feel two hearts beat sadly in my chest as I realize what I must do. This war has gone on for hundreds of years, and finally it must come to an end. I have a choice; destroy the war or let the universe be torn apart by it. It's the worst thing I will do in my long life, but I can't do anything else._

_ Forgive me. Forgive me. Oh, forgive me for what I am about to do._

_ Minutes later, I hover miles above the planet below. Gallifrey. My beloved home is now without a single patch of free ground. Skaro has destroyed it all. Other planets are beside it, such as Skaro itself. It, too, must go. My hearts are heavy, oh so heavy, with the weight of what is to come._

_ Time seems to freeze, to slow down. I hear echoes of my brothers' and sisters' screams as they die over and over again, regenerating after every death. The Daleks find new allies every day, and new ways to kill along with them. It has to stop._

_ I close my eyes and breathe a few times, a voice speaking unbidden at the center of my mind, "Why do you breathe, when the people below will never breathe again?"_

_ I know it is the only choice I have. But it doesn't make it any worse. Pain spreads through my chest, and I feel hot tears stream down my cheeks. Doctor. Doctor. Doctor. Why "Doctor"? You are no healer. You are not a savior. You are a killer. After this day, the Doctor isn't a name for one like you. You should be called Murderer, not Doctor. The Master would point and laugh even more than he already does if he saw you now._

_ No. I can't do this now. I can't be sad. I have to think of the future, of how much better it will be for others, not for myself. What does it matter what I think, what I feel? What matters is that all of the other races will be happy, and they will never have to know about how they could have all been wiped out from existence if not for me._

_ And then it's over. It's done. I turn away from the sight below, try not to think of the fires or the agonized screeches or the images of the great citadel exploding in an arch of broken glass, or the light of a billion regenerations snuffed out like candles, never to return again. When I leave, I know that I can never return. A hundred years pass, and I never forget the pain of that day; the day when I killed two races, including my own, and knowing that I am alone, forever._

When I open my eyes, I can feel Aria's skin beneath my cheek. The Doctor still lies to my right, upon Benji's back, but his ancient chocolate-colored eyes are filled with torment and regret. I realize that we are both crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I shouldn't have showed you that. Ever."

"You did the right thing."

He knows that I mean both situations, and he smiles, but it isn't real, and we both know it.

"You really believe that? You saw all of that, and you still want to stay with me?" Disbelief fills his voice.

"Of course. I'm never leaving you, remember?"

"Even though I'm nine-hundred-and-three years old?"

"Even so. You're really 903?"

"Yep."

"You don't look bad for your age."

"Really?" He gives me a surprised grin, and a slightly vain expression crosses his face. "How so?"

I roll my eyes. "Well, you've got great hair. That's for one. Is that part of the Time Lord metabolism or something? You age without your body aging?"

"Well…" For a moment, the Doctor feels his head, an odd look in his eyes as he experiments with his incredibly fluffy brown hair. "Not exactly. It's complicated."

"Tell me. We've got time. All the time in the world, with a TARDIS, eh?"

He smiles at me. "Suppose so, yeah. Well, when it's time for us to die, either naturally or… not," the Doctor's dark eyebrows furrow momentarily before he continues, "we regenerate. It's a sort of process we go through, and the time energy inside of us allows us to create a new body us, and a slightly different personality as well. But I'll always be the same man, with the same memories."

"So you're immortal, then?"

"Well, not exactly. I only get twelve regenerations, which means thirteen bodies – and this is my tenth. When I run out, I die… for good." There's a sort of awkward silence as we both uncomfortably shift our weight, not wanting to think about death. Then he puts on a cheerful mask and says, "But I don't plan for that to happen for a good while yet. Look, we're almost there!"

"You're not getting out of this conversation that easily."

"Fine. We'll talk later. But can we please just enjoy this now? I came here so that you could have fun and recover from the past two days, and you're not helping!"

"Okay. But you'd better not try to get out of it later!"

"Okay, okay!"

The water gets shallow enough that we can stand in it, which also means that the two sea dragons can't swim anymore. They are forced to turn around, and so the Doctor and I have to slip into the cool freshwater sea. It comes up to just above my waist.

"Bye! Thank you!" I shout out to the already disappearing dragons. They both trumpet back joyously and dive into the sea.

"Sorry about that. I'd forgotten how shallow it got here."

"I thought there wasn't any dry land?"

"This is literally the driest place on Arborana besides the trees. Most of the planet is under at least ten feet of water, if not much more. It's only shallow here for around half a mile."

I suddenly have an idea. We are both standing about twenty or so yards away from the immense forest, which means that we have a good amount of shallow open water to stand in. I grin.

"You like water that much?" He looks almost surprised.

"Yeah. Why else would this planet be my favorite?"

"I'm glad you think so, too!"

"So you like water as well?"

"Yeah…"

"Good!"

I suddenly lean forward and scoop my arms through the water, splashing the Doctor. He gasps as his upper body is spattered with dark splotches, although it isn't nearly as wet as his submerged bottom half. I laugh as he pushes water back into me. We giggle and splash in the water like little children for a long time.

I run away from him, and he chases after me, grabbing the back of my leather jacket and pulling the back. I yell at him teasingly, "Hey!"

"Oh, no you don't!" the Doctor shouts as I kick out with my legs, spraying water into his stomach. He's strong enough and I'm small enough that he can lift me partly out of the sea, so it's a lot more effective. He steps back enough that I can wriggle my way from his grip and jump onto his chest, pushing him backwards. We both get soaked as he tumbles into the water. This goes on for a long time, until we are both so drenched in water that we might as well have been swimming laps for the past twenty minutes.

"Come on. We should get dry."

"Not yet," I say. "Can we swim into deeper water for a bit?"

"Of course."

And that's what we do. The Doctor hangs his waterlogged coat next to mine on a nearby tree while I swim beside him. It's very calming, seeing the crystalline colors swirl hundreds of feet below me, and I turn onto my back, holding the Doctor's hand as we float. After a while, we retrieve our belongings and wade over to the real forest. I almost can't wait to see what waits inside.

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**End note: Pretty short, I know. Sorry about that. And the conversations are written badly. Just bear with me, okay? Please give suggestions, because I'm running a bit short on ideas here! D: That's the problem with writing - there are too many ideas and then when you don't write them, they disappear. Help? Lol. Thanks for all review given! :) Keep it up!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**

**This is my shortest chapter yet. I apologize for the long wait, but I had finals and a whole bunch of school issues, so forgive me! I have a LOT more of my new "Connections" fic, though, so read that if you're disappointed in this new chapter, haha. Here goes nothing.**

* * *

All of my clothes are wet, even my boots. I ask the Doctor what I should do with my coat and shoes, since there's no point in keeping them on. He smiles cheekily and takes them from my hands. To my confusion, he unfolds his wet coat from his arms and slips both my combat boots and leather jacket into a pocket.

"How…" I begin, but he cuts me off.

"Bigger on the inside. Time Lords were very smart. We have too much clutter, so we're always prepared for things like this." I decide not to comment on the past tense of Time Lords. It's changed since we first met. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe he trusts me more. I guess he would've had to, to give me that information about the Time War.

"Oh. Right."

We wade further in the shallow water, and then we reach the beginning of the massive forest. The colossal trees span for miles and miles, so thick and tall that they nearly block out the light, although they aren't too closely packed. Their limbs are incredibly wide, but very high, with bark similar to redwood trees but smoother and stronger. The trunks extend down incredibly low, and I notice that a few feet from where we stand, the sandbar drops dramatically into deeper water. Strange-looking fish swirl around the trees far below, and I look away with a shiver.

When I look to my right, I see the tree that we originally came for, the one with lower branches. However, it's a bit farther than I'd thought, around ten feet into the deep water. I speak out tentatively.

"Will those fish down there… are they…"

"No. Not unless we disturb them. Just be careful. We'll have to grab onto that vine over there and pull ourselves up quickly. You can go first so I can push you up, unless you'd prefer otherwise."

"No. It's…. it's fine." I say shakily. _'Not unless we disturb them.' _I'm not really sure what to think about that.

"Allons-y!" the Doctor grins and slips into the deeper water, swimming swiftly and silently. I notice how smooth his stroke is, and then follow, quickly overtaking him as I remember what our order is supposed to be.

At first, I don't sense any danger at all. Then my mind enhances its senses like it did on Friday night, and I can feel every droplet of water on my skin, feel every vibration in the water, hear and see every sign of movement. The water smells pleasantly fresh, but I don't like the swirls of water that I feel against my legs. They seem to be coming from below me, but I try to ignore them as I near the tree.

I sigh with relief as I pull myself up, dripping wet, onto the branch. But then I suddenly feel a change in the atmosphere, and without looking, I shout, "Doctor!"

Time seems to slow. My senses heighten even more than before, and I hear a double heartbeat pounding behind me. _Badabadum. Badabadum. 1-2-3-4. 1-2-3-4. _And then I hear a second one, only on heart, with a slower rate. _Badum. Badum._

I move faster than everything else around me, twisting my body around without even thinking. I feel my fingers wrap around the Doctor's wrist as I pull him up the vine. I don't wait a single millisecond before jumping down and hitting the shark below full on with both of my bare feet, sending it angrily back into the watery depths. I use the momentum to push myself back up and off of its head just before it turns around, and somehow manage to land on my feet on the branch above.

When time goes back to its normal rate, I am breathing fast. I don't quite register what I've just done. Only three seconds have passed during that whole time, and when I look down at the Doctor, who is sitting beside me, hair askew, he is gaping at me in disbelief.

"You… you just… Emma Mason, you just saved my life."

I don't know what to say. "Did I?"

"How did you know it was coming?"

"I… I'm not… I don't know…" Then I remember, awed. "I heart its heartbeat."

"But that's impossible!"

"Sometimes, my instincts… my gut, if you will… tell me what to do, and my senses just go crazy, and I can feel everything. I think that's how I found you."

"Are you absolutely sure that you're human, Emma? Because you've got the senses of a Time Lord."

I'm speechless. "No. I mean, yes, I'm sure that I'm human. 100% positive."

"Well, you're quite an enigma, aren't you!"

"I… I suppose."

"We'll have to figure this out later. Come on, we aren't going to be safe here much longer now that the sharks know we're here."

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**End note:**

**Yep. That's it. I know, and I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. Please give me tips, because I have a ginormous writer's block on this story. As in like, I cannot write a single word more. It's really annoying. Review? Pretty please with a cherry on top?**

**By the way, I have an original story up on FictionPress if anyone wants to read. It'd be much appreciated! :)**


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